JOE COLE has revealed Liverpool’s players are right behind “gentleman” Roy Hodgson after helping ease the pressure on the beleaguered manager.

Cole emerged from the bench to strike an injury-time winner as the Anfield outfit came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1.

The uncertainty surrounding Hodgson’s position increased during the week when his team slumped to a home defeat to rock-bottom Wolves, with angry fans calling for the dismissal of the 63-year-old.

But Cole maintains the dressing room remains united in support of Hodgson and that such solidarity can help Liverpool prosper during the second half of the Premier League campaign.

“We are all in this together,” said the England international. “We are all responsible – win, lose or draw. So it’s on all of us and we are all there fighting for this club, for the manager, the owners, the fans.

“We all want the same thing and when we are all singing from the same hymn sheet that’s when clubs move forward.

“Hopefully now we can take what we did in the second half and kick on from there. But, like I said, we are all right behind the manager, he’s a gentleman and we want to do well for him and the club and I suppose we showed that with the fight and the togetherness.”

Cole’s goal was only his second for the club since arriving on a free transfer from Chelsea in the summer and his first strike in front of the Kop.

It was tinged with controversy after Bolton claimed the midfielder was in an offside position when he prodded the ball over the goal line, although replays suggested Steven Gerrard’s cross had been knocked goalwards at the far post off Johan Elmander and not Maxi Rodriguez.

And Cole said: “To be honest with you it was one of those that I couldn’t really miss.

“I was stood right by the goal and just got my studs on it so I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

“And it was even better for me because it was right in front of the Kop.

“But you can’t get away from the fact that the main thing for us was to get the win because if we hadn’t have got it then the crowd would have been very disappointed.

“So it’s nice that we were able to send the supporters home a bit happier than they might have been.

“I suppose if we hadn’t got the goal then the game would have a whole different aspect to it.”

Injuries, suspension and inconsistent form have hampered Cole’s campaign with the 29-year-old having not started a Premier League game in more than two months.

And the player, who required a pain-killing injection before Saturday’s game, admits he is desperate for an extended run in the starting line-up.

“I’ve had a stop-start opening to my Liverpool career but football can be a bit like that,” said Cole.

“It was lovely to nick the winner and to get the three points but from my own point of view I’ve got to be playing.

“I love my football and to get back to my best I need to be playing regularly, that’s all there is to it.”

Daniel Agger made his first Liverpool appearance since September following a complex calf injury that kept him out for almost three months.

Manager Hodgson said: “He played well and I’m sure he’s more than satisfied with his own performance.